The launch was backed by E1m from UK regional publisher Archant. The closure, announced by editor Liam Hayes and chief executive Colm Grealy on Tuesday, came as the paper, recently renamed the Dublin Evening, found it hard to establish a niche in the morning or evening market.

At one point a circulation of 22,000 was claimed for the mid-market tabloid, but figures appeared not to have been audited by ABC. However, the paper won acclaim for its design while several of its stories were picked up by the national media.

Archant was the biggest shareholder in the paper with 2o per cent of its equity. There are reports that in recent weeks efforts to raise extra cash from large shareholders failed.

Archant said in a statement: “In December 2002 Archant took up a 20 per cent stake in Dublin Daily’s parent company, Dublin Daily News, and invested E1m in cash in the venture. Archant is a growing business which invests in new launches and initiatives and we were attracted to the proposition by the opportunity and the management team. Sadly the business has now gone into liquidation.

“While it is unfortunate that DDN has closed, Archant will continue to invest in good-quality community-based media ideas with capable management and we accept that some of these investments might not be as successful as planned.”